Spirally-coiled wire spring



(No Model.)

v5.12.Jaowl.' SPIRALLY COILBD WIRE SPRING.

N0.283,880. Patented Aug. 28, 1883.

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EDWINI). FOWLER, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

sPmALLY-COILED WIRE SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 283,830, datedAugust28, 1883.

Application filed February 5, 1883.

To all 111700111, t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN l?. FOWLER, of the city of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Spirally Coiled Vire Springs, of which the following isaspeciiication.

The present invention relates to the class of spiral wire springsadapted for use in the manufacture of spring bed-bottoms. In such bedbottoms it has heretofore been customary to use cone-shaped wire springssecured at their apexes or small ends to supporting-slats, while theirbases or larger ends are left uppermost to furnish the foundation forthe mattress or bed. To prevent the springs from being bent or crushedover sidewise under the superimposed weight, each spring is secured toits contigu ous springs by chains, links, cords, or other iexibleconnections attached to their upper coils. It is essential, or at leastdesirable, in such springs that the end of the wire at the upper coilshould be secured to the wire at the junction of the next coil, and thishas heretofore been done by bending the end of the wire inward and tyingor knotting it around the wire at the junction of the upper and the nextTo facilitate this knottin g, as well as to make the fastening moresecure, the end ofthe wire has been bent at nearly right an gles toitself, or at a sharp incline, whereby there is formed a prominentshoulder or offset extending transversely from the end of the final coilto the beginning of the next coil of the spring. rlhis commonconstruction of springs is shown in the drawings of Letters Patent No.234,262, granted to me November 9, 1880.

In the bed-bottoms arrangedto be adjusted by sliding or folding parts ofthe frame together, or by rolling the bed-bottom up,wl1ere by the upperends of the springs are brought nearer together and the connectingchains, links, or cords are loosened or slackened, the shoulders oroffsets above described upon the upper coils of the springs are veryobjectionable, inasmuch as the slackened chains or other connectionsbecome looped over the projecting shoulders, and the bed-bottom is tiedup77 or prevented from being fully extended to its horizontal position.rlhis is especially the case in rolling bed-bottoms similar to those (Nomodel.)

shown in the patent above referred to, and has proved a source of greatannoyance to users and venders, as the catching or loeping of the willbe nearly circular, and theprominent and objectionable shoulder oroffset referred to will be removed, and as a result of this constructionthe catching of the chains or links by which the springs are connectedis made impossible under ordinary circumstances; and the inventionconsists in a spiral wire spring in which the end of the wire is securedto an offset or bend in the wire extending transversely from the lastcoil to the next eoil of the spring; also, in the combination, in aspring bed-bottom made adj ustable either by sliding, folding, orrolling the parts together, of. a series of spiral wire springs whoseupper coils are nearly complete circles, and are free from prominentshoulders, with chains, links, or cords by which the upper coils of thesprings are connected together.

The invention is illustrated in the accompa# nying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a top view of a spiral cone-shaped wire spring containing myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a top viewof an extended bed-bottom provided with springs, like that shownin.Figs. 1 and 2, in combination with connecting-chains, and Fig. 4 isan end view of the bed-bottom when rolled up. y

In the drawings, A represents cone-shaped 'wire springs whose largest orfinal coil is nearly circular and free from any prominent shoul der oroffset, as fully represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In thisconstruction the end of the wire is knotted or secured to an offset, c,formed by bending the wire out of the circle of the final coil andextending it transversely to the circle ofthe next coil. rlhe end of thewire is secured to the offset a at its junction with the nal coil, whichenables the final coil to be brought into the form of nen fu w com pletecircle. The offset or shoulder c may be made by giving the propershapeto the forming-block on which the Wire is spirally wound to bringit into the shape of the spring; or the springs may be coiled up intheusual way, and the offset a may be formed afterward by the use ofproperly-shaped dies.

Springs constructed as above set forth are especially useful inbed-bottoms like those shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, in which thesprings, secured to longitudinal slats B, or otherwise supported, havetheir upper coils connected by means of chains or other ilexibleattachments. When such bed-bottoms are adj usted by sliding` or rollingthem together, so that the upper coils of the springs are brought nearereach other and the chains or other connections slackened, it isimpossible, by reason of the absence of any prominent and sufficientprojections or shoulders upon the upper coils, for the chains to becaught or looped over the springs, whereby the bed-bottomwould beprevented from being readily returned to its fully-V extended positionfor use.

It is not intended to limit this invention to single-coned springs, likethose shown in the drawings, as it is manifest that double-cone orspiral cylindrical springs can be constructed as above set forth, andvbe practically applied in bed-bottoms andother articles of furniture inwhich it`is desirable to connect their upper coils by ilexibleattachments.

What is claimed as new isl. A spiral wire spring in which the end of theWire is secured to an offset or bend in the wire extending transverselyfrom the end coil to the next coil of the spring, whereby the end coilcan take the shape of nearly a complete circle free from a prominentshoulder, substantially as set forth.

2. In a sliding, folding, or rolling spring bed-bottom, a series ofspiral Wire springs whose upper coils are nearly complete circles andfree from prominent shoulders, in combination with chains, links, orother iiexible means by which the upper coils of the springs areconnected together, substantially as and for the purpose described.

EDWIN P. FOVLER.

Witnesses:

ROBERT H. DUNCAN, R. F. GAYLORD.

